Company to cover Milford Beach cost

Pipeline giant Kinder Morgan has agreed to pay $41,000 to keep Milford Beach open this summer in the Delaware Gap National Recreation Area.

Beth Brelje

Pipeline giant Kinder Morgan has agreed to pay $41,000 to keep Milford Beach open this summer in the Delaware Gap National Recreation Area.

The National Park Service had planned to close the beach as part of federal sequestration budget cuts.

Allen Fore, Kinder Morgan public affairs director, committed the company to donate the money to cover 2013 operational costs for Milford Beach in a letter sent April 22 to DWGNRA park Superintendent John Donahue.

"We are pleased to work in coordination with Governor Tom Corbett, Congressman Tom Marino, the National Park Service, the Pike County Commissioners and others to help insure continued public access to this important community asset," Fore wrote.

Earlier this month, NPS announced the closing of Milford Beach, including the beach, picnic area, boat launch, canoe access, parking lot and trailhead to the McDade Recreational Trail.

On the New Jersey side of the river, the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center and grounds will stay closed.

Kinder Morgan has gotten a frosty welcome from local environmentalists, who have protested the company's Northeast Upgrade Project. The project includes 40 miles of a natural gas pipeline, including 10.5 miles through Pike County.

Much of the project will be placed along the company's right-of-way easement, where a pipeline already exists. But in Pike County, where the right-of-way goes through the park, the company looped around the park to avoid a lengthy and uncertain approval process.

This caused the company to cut through private property and existing forests. Protesters wanted the company to go through the park instead of disturbing new land.

The park closures put canoe livery businesses, which depend on the access points, in deep water. Livery owners met with park officials and asked them to reconsider after the closures were announced, but were unsuccessful in swaying the NPS. Park officials were unavailable to comment.

A petition was started on the White House website, asking to reverse the decision to close Milford Beach and the McDade trailhead. It needed 100,000 signatures by May 5 to capture the president's attention. As of April 22, it had 665.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.